Being the daughter of a bitch. Mariana, science fiction, cyberpunk and the female body in Ygdrasil by Jorge Baradit.

Abstract

This study focuses on the analysis of the cyberpunk science fiction novel "Ydrasil" by Jorge Baradit, utilizing the theoretical framework proposed by John Berger, Slavoj Žižek, and Roland Barthes. The objective is to explore the oppressions on female corporealities present in the work, as well as the articulation of the "patriarchy" in the diegetic construction of Ygdrasil. Additionally, it examines the construction of the corporeality of the character Mariana and its influence on this character's identity and decisions, taking into consideration the ghosts of oppression experienced by women. The analysis reveals how the narrative exposes human corporeality as a coveted resource and subject of dispute in the struggle for survival, emphasizing the capitalist exploitation that seeks to strip the individual of their physical integrity and autonomy, reducing them to a commodity susceptible to modification, exploitation, and disposal. This representation within the cyberpunk subgenre underscores capitalism's tendency to objectify and dispossess the individual of their physical integrity and autonomy, leading to a systematic instrumentalization and degradation of the human body.